


Leftward Spirals

by OnlyStraightForJongup



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, Romance, basically nuest on a boat ft a boatload of nonhuman characters, including but not limited to sirens selkies and mermaids, marine biologist!kim Jonghyun | JR, side Hwang Minhyun/Aaron Kwak | Aron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-11-24 19:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18169361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyStraightForJongup/pseuds/OnlyStraightForJongup
Summary: Jonghyun spent four years and too much money on a marine biology degree, but he doesn't know everything about the ocean.Or, Jonghyun's no closer to finding out his friends aren't human than he is to realizing Minki's in love with him.





	Leftward Spirals

**Author's Note:**

> quick warning for a scene with some mental manipulation from magic. It's extremely extremely mild and nothing bad happens, but I figured I'd mention it just in case
> 
> also fair warning that if you know more than three things about the ocean, you'll prolly be disappointed by how little i know lmao and uh also don't try to figure out where this is set bc ???

Jonghyun had forgotten how good this felt. He spent so much of his time on the water—speaking with tourists, answering questions. He loved that, but Minki was right. Jonghyun had needed this today.

The gentle sounds quieted the white noise in his brain. Dongho had switched off _Polaris’_ engine, so the dull cracks of their weakly waving flag filled the air as the wind threatened to rid Jonghyun of his hat. He rested his arms on the railing and stared out into the dark water.

The setting sun lit up the wispy clouds running parallel to the horizon.

“Hey, Jonghyun!” Minki waved him over to the other side of the boat. Jonghyun joined him there, looking back out towards the shore. There were still people fishing off the pier. Jonghyun could make out one raising something. Maybe a camera, to take a photo of the sunset and the ocean and their small, silhouetted boat.

“Watch this,” Minki said. He flicked his blonde hair out of his face and gestured out over the water. Somehow, Jonghyun didn’t think he was pointing out the faraway line of pelicans.

“What are you doing?” he tried, but of course it didn’t slow Minki down.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed towards the shore, one single, shrill ‘HEY!’

Ouch. Jonghyun screwed his face into a grimace. A couple gulls took off from the water.

On the pier, a man looked up and caught sight of Minki, who was now frantically waving. Jonghyun ducked before Minki’s arm smacked him in the face.

“There’s no way anyone can hear—” Before Jonghyun finished, the guy pitched forward off the edge. He made an unfortunate splash. “Oh my god!”

Minki laughed and clapped a few times.

“Minki!” Jonghyun hissed. He wished he was more surprised. “You can’t scare people like that!”

“I didn’t scare him.” Minki rolled his eyes.

“He fell off the pier!"

“They’re getting him already. Look!” Sure enough, people nearby had reacted. “See? He’s fine.”

“That doesn’t make it okay!” They were following old steps to a practiced dance. Minki brought more chaos about than anyone else Jonghyun had ever met, and while Jonghyun might not know how it was all possible, he’d long accepted it. “Should we go help him?”

Minki snorted. “Do you want to get stuck?”

There was no way _Polaris_ could get there safely or quickly enough. Even Jonghyun, who had only worked here for about a year, could judge that without question.

“What if he can’t swim?” Jonghyun asked. From the man’s quick strokes, it seemed like he could. A few people surrounded him once he got back on shore.

“Why would anyone who can't swim come to the ocean?”

Jonghyun turned to face Minki, raising his eyebrows. Minki’s hair whipped around his face, but unlike Jonghyun, who always ended up with half the hairs on his head pointed straight up if he didn’t wear a cap, Minki somehow remained ethereal. That was another thing Jonghyun had long since stopped questioning.

“What?” Minki noticed his look. “Stop looking at me like that. I just wanted to make you laugh.”

“Why would that ever make me laugh?” Jonghyun tried not to mourn his quiet evening too much. The light had dimmed now that the sun had disappeared, though color still lingered in the sky.

Minki made a face. “I found it funny.”

“That’s like my biggest fear."

Minki smiled, his eyes crinkling as he stared out over the water. “Yeah, I know. You insisted on wearing a life jacket when we let Aaron in the helm.”

“Shut up,” Jonghyun grumbled. Aaron had actually been a bit hurt by that, but it was his fault for telling Jonghyun right beforehand that he’d flipped every canoe he’d ever been in. Jonghyun wasn’t going to trust him on a boat with a motor. “It’s scary sometimes when you can’t swim.”

Minki’s wide eyes focused directly on him. “Jonghyun. What the fuck?”

“Didn’t you know that?” Jonghyun asked. “I know I told you.” At least, he thought he did. Those early days had been a bit rough. To this day Jonghyun questioned why he’d gotten this job considering the first impressions on both sides hadn’t been too great.

“But you work on a boat? You’re a marine biologist?”

They’d definitely talked about this before. Dongho had once offered to help teach him, but Jonghyun was perfectly happy on solid surfaces, thank you very much.

“I wanted to work with turtles,” Jonghyun said softly. “Almost no one gets jobs like this.” It had been a miracle that Jonghyun lined up a full-time job with a decent pay straight out of university. So much of one that he’d stuck it out with a strange start-up company run by four friends who had such odd relationships with each other Jonghyun had once thought he’d never fit in.

Hell, Jonghyun still sometimes didn’t fit in.

“I know that,” Minki said. “But—why didn’t you tell me? I could teach you!”

Jonghyun liked Minki, really, but that wasn't happening. “I told you, I don’t want to drown. Use Aaron as your guinea pig.”

“Aaron?” Minki’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yeah, he’s the one that said it would be murder if Dongho threw him overboard.”

Minki snorted. “I think that was more because we were in open ocean.”

Oh. Jonghyun hadn’t actually considered that. “But he—can he really?” Maybe he never talked about it so Minhyun wouldn't feel left out, since he had some weird salt allergy that kept him firmly on land.

Minki grinned at him. “You’re lucky you’re cute,” he said. “Because you’re a little dumb sometimes.”

Jonghyun didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything. Minki grabbed the railing on Jonghyun’s other side, and Jonghyun leaned back into his arm.

“We should go in soon,” Minki said. “It’s getting dark.”

Jonghyun’s stomach rumbled, and Minki laughed. “You’re such a human,” he said fondly.

“You sound like you’re not a human when you say that.”

“Do you really think a human could look this beautiful? I’m offended, Jonghyunnie.” He rested his hand on Jonghyun’s back. “Do you have plans tonight?”

They didn’t run tours on Mondays, so tomorrow was their only true day off in the week.

“Nah,” he said. “Maybe watch a movie with my roommate. You?”

Aaron and Minhyun would probably go off somewhere, and Dongho’s plans tended to be all over the place. He had a lot more friends than the rest of them, despite how he looked ten times as intimidating, not to mention wore the same coat every single day and definitely didn’t wash it all that often.

Minki pursed his lips as he thought, and Jonghyun hoped he was free. Maybe then he’d invite Minki over.

“I’ll probably go find Jeonghan or someone,” he said.

Jonghyun nodded. Minki probably wouldn’t have wanted such a quiet night, anyway.

“Have fun,” he said, and Minki smiled.

Despite being friends for a while now, none of them had ever been over Jonghyun's apartment or met Seungcheol, who at this point insisted that Jonghyun hadn't introduced them for a reason. Maybe they’d change that soon. The thought of it made his heart flutter a little.

“But don’t think I forgot that you can’t swim,” Minki said, and now Jonghyun’s heart plummeted. “Seriously, we’ll help teach you.”

He wouldn't have a chance to invite them over if they drowned him first.

 

\--

 

Jonghyun’s radio crackled. _“Minki to Aquamarine.”_

Silence. Well, from the radio clipped to his belt, at least. They were already docked, so their customers were returning to shore. A woman had pulled him aside to ask a final question, and Jonghyun was happy to answer.

“No one knows for sure why whales breach,” he said. “Or at least, there’s no consensus on it. There’s a hypothesis—”

_“Minki to Aquamarine.”_

“There’s a hypothesis that it’s a way to communicate because it makes such a large splash.” The woman nodded, and Jonghyun beamed at her. 

Sharing information to people who cared was one of the best things about his job. After four years of learning all the ways humans destroyed everything around them, it was nice to help people appreciate it and maybe protect it too. 

_“Minhyun, I swear if you don’t answer the goddamn radio, I’ll—"_

Jonghyun flicked off his radio without taking his eyes off the woman. “Sorry about that,” he said. She looked amused, thankfully. “What were you saying?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Just thank you. You’re very knowledgeable.”

He smiled again. “You’re welcome.”

On days like these, he rarely had to worry about dissatisfied customers. They’d fulfilled their main purpose, which was providing a good view of humpback whales, and gotten five or six other target species to boot.

He bade the woman goodbye, and she joined the rest of her family on the dock. Jonghyun raised a hand to block the sun and peered around. It was a quiet day, not all that surprising for a Thursday. Still, two tours a day always left him tired.

Jonghyun took a seat on the deck, leaning against a wall. He tilted his hat down to block out some of the light and closed his eyes. They always met up in the breakroom before they broke for the day, but it was too hot to wait in there. 

Dongho and Aaron’s muffled voices came through the wall. They never seemed to mind the heat as much as Jonghyun did. _Polaris_ was made to be a houseboat, but they’d converted her to serve as a whale watching tour boat.

The cabin area was small, just enough room for the helm, a tiny bathroom, and a breakroom. About half the breakroom was taken up by a couple water coolers—in case of an emergency, Jonghyun's friends all said (whatever that meant)—and a large bathtub.

That was Minhyun’s. Jonghyun didn’t know why he needed a bathtub, but he thought it had something to do with Minhyun’s ridiculous allergies. How someone could be that allergic to salt stumped Jonghyun, but the others treated even a splash seriously. Maybe Minhyun had the tub in case he, like, fell overboard or something.

(Sometimes Jonghyun really didn’t know why Minhyun worked on a boat in the ocean in the first place.)

Aaron and Dongho’s voices grew louder, and the door clicked.

“Don’t hit me,” he said and braced himself. It stopped right in front of him.

“That’s the worst place to sit,” Aaron said.

“I’m okay. Thanks for asking,” Jonghyun said. He held his arms up, and Dongho helped lift him to his feet.

As always, Dongho had his sealskin coat on, and Jonghyun had no idea how he didn’t burn to death. It got even hotter inside the helm than outside, and there was sweat on his face and neck.

“What’s your favorite animal?” Dongho asked. When he ran a hand through his short hair, and some of it stayed up.

“This again?” Aaron scoffed. “Let it go.”

“Jonghyun?”

“Diamondback Terrapin.” Jonghyun had definitely said that before, but well, Dongho didn’t know all the species around them. He might not remember it exactly.

“What? Why?” Dongho said, like Jonghyun had answered incorrectly. Aaron pressed his lips together and turned away to pretend he wasn’t smiling, but Jonghyun could see his shoulders shake with silent laughter.

“Turtles are cool.” Jonghyun had visited the ocean once when he was a teenager and had seen thousands of terrapins coming to shore. They’d been small heads pocking out of waves, all coming inward. He’d ended up sitting on a jetty nearby for over an hour, arms curled around his legs as gulls lined the beach.

That was the day he’d decided to study marine biology.

“Fine, then what’s your favorite mammal? Marine mammal?”

“Um,” Jonghyun said. He racked his brain. Goddamnit, he hated these kinds of questions. “Do I really need to pick one?”

“It’s important,” Dongho insisted. “I’m proving a point to Minhyun.”

“I’m not getting involved in whatever you’re arguing about.” Jonghyun liked riding the waves of neutrality, thank you very much. His friends liked to exercise their pettier sides a little too often sometimes, perhaps because they’d known each other the longest of any of them or perhaps just because they both were annoying. “Where is Minhyun, anyway?”

“It’s just a question. And he’s up there.” Dongho gestured to the thin staircase that led to their small upper deck. “Some kid spilled something.”

“Don’t you have your radio on?” Aaron asked.

Jonghyun groaned. One of them—which probably meant him—should go up and help. “I turned it off when Minki and Minhyun started.”

Aaron laughed. “That’s fair.”

“Why’d the ‘Aquamarine’ thing piss Minhyun off anyway?” Jonghyun asked. “Do you know?”

“When do those two ever need much of a reason to argue?” Dongho grumbled.

Aaron raised his eyebrows. “Speak for yourself.”

“He said seals were dumb?”

A short laugh jumped out of Jonghyun. Of everything he’d expected, that hadn’t been it. “Were you trying to get me to say seals are my favorite?”

“Seals are the best,” Dongho insisted. “They should be your favorite.”

“They’re cute.” Jonghyun shrugged. He always liked spotting harbor seals in the water. Just today, Jonghyun had pointed three or four out. “I like them.”

“See?” Aaron said. “No one hates seals.”

“Minhyun said minks are better? I don’t even know what those are but anything that’s that close to ‘Minki’ can’t be good.”

Jonghyun laughed. “They’re kinda like otters, but they like marshes.”

“Swamps?” Dongho asked. “No wonder Minhyun likes them.” He shot Aaron a pointed look.

Jonghyun didn’t really get the joke, but he didn’t bother to ask.

(He did, however, get why Dongho connected Aaron and Minhyun. Only last week Jonghyun had caught them cuddling in Minhyun’s bathtub.)

“I resent that,” Aaron said casually. “And I think you’ve got your facts wrong. I’ve never heard of them either.”

“Whatever.” If they were going for specifics, his old mammalogy prof would’ve been horrified that Jonghyun described minks as ‘kinda like otters' anyway. “They like freshwater, anyway.”

“And seals are obviously better.”

“You should go and tell Minhyun that,” Aaron said. “And help him finish cleaning while you’re at it.”

Dongho snorted. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

 

\--

 

Dongho was giggling, loud and high-pitched and disruptive. Jonghyun scrunched his face up as it dragged him back to the waking world. 

“You're going to wake him up.” Minki’s fingers ran through his hair, and Jonghyun recalled that his pillow hadn’t been a pillow at all, rather Minki’s lap. He'd curled up into a small ball, and now he tightened up more, trying to chase sleep again.

“Last time I fell asleep here, I woke up with everyone's water bottles on me.” Dongho sounded a bit disgruntled, and Jonghyun hid his smile in Minki's legs.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get for sleeping like the dead."

"Hey, Jonghyun, I know you're awake; I can see you smiling, and I know you did it," Dongho said. 

Jonghyun squinted one eye open, only to regret it when the bright light stung. He turned away from it and made an obnoxious snoring sound. 

Minki laughed and dropped his hand on Jonghyun's back. "I don't know what you're talking about. Clearly, he's sleeping."

"You would take his side." 

"I don't take sides," Minki said. "I only have one side: Mine."

Jonghyun opened his eyes for real now, but he didn't sit up. He liked laying on Minki like this and liked how Minki's hand was a gentle but solid presence against his back.

"Who's in the helm?" Minki asked, and oh, that was a good question. Ninety-eight percent of the time either Minki or Dongho steered _Polaris._

"Aaron," Dongho said. He snorted. "Good thing Jonghyun's sleeping, otherwise he'd want a life jacket."

"That was one time," Jonghyun said.

"Yeah, last time." 

"I can't believe you're being mean to me on my birthday." Jonghyun pouted. He'd never been one to make birthday's a big deal, but well, sometimes they worked to his advantage.

"Yeah, yeah," Dongho said. "I should check and see how Aaron's doing. Getting into the cove can be hard." He hurried off, back towards the helm. 

"I'm surprised he came out at all," Minki said. Jonghyun twisted to look up at him. "He enjoys teaching Aaron how to pilot way too much."

"He wants to teach me sometime," Jonghyun said. His voice was still hoarse, and he cleared it. "How long was I out?"

“Only about twenty minutes. We should be there soon.”

Minki had told him he wanted to show him a place, and Jonghyun had readily agreed. Two tours later, however, the exhaustion had caught up to him. This is what he got for relying so strongly on short naps to get him through the day.

“You should sleep more—you know, at night,” Minki said. “You always look so tired.”

Jonghyun shrugged. “My roommate’s nocturnal. If I sleep at night and work all day, we literally never see each other.”

Minki hummed. “We’re almost there,” he said. He gestured towards the land, and Jonghyun sat up to see it and his breath caught at the sight of big rocks jutting from the water. He was much more used to sandy beaches.

“Is it safe for us to—?”

“We used to spend a lot of time here,” Minki said. “Actually, Dongho and I met out here. My family’s from nearby.”

“Really?” Jonghyun asked. He rose to his feet to see the whole picture. Jonghyun could count on one hand what he knew about any of his friends’ families. He tried not to press any of them too far with questions, but it sometimes made him wonder why even after a year, they all seemed to know each other more than Jonghyun knew any of them.

“Mhmm,” Minki said. “See that rock?” He gestured to a large, flat one. “My sister and I used to sing from there, until my mom caught us doing it.” He laughed.

“I never realized you sing,” Jonghyun said. “You always refuse to.” Minhyun and Dongho both had a thing for singing, and it didn't take much for Aaron to join in either. 

“So do you,” Minki shot back.

“Yeah, because I can’t.” Jonghyun smiled. “Like, really. That’s not me being humble; I actually suck.”

“It’s okay. You’re already too good at too many things in the first place.”

“That’s you.”

Minki laughed. “Only because I’m not human.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jonghyun waved the joke off. “Gosh, Minki. I can’t believe you grew up here.” The water was calm and dark. Jonghyun had no idea how deep it was, past that their boat could travel safely into it.

“I thought you’d like it.” Minki looked around, and a nostalgic smile snuck onto his face. A part of Jonghyun wished he’d share the memories playing behind his eyes. Jonghyun could listen to Minki talk for hours, especially in a place like this. “The water’s calm here. I thought—if you ever want to learn how to swim, here’s where you should.”

“Minki…”

He raised a hand. “Not today,” he agreed. “C’mon. I’ve got a gift for you.”

“You didn’t have to.” But Jonghyun couldn’t keep from smiling. He covered it with a hand.

Minki ignored him in favor of shuffling through his bag. Jonghyun tended to tell his friends they didn’t need to get him anything, but he couldn’t deny his bubbling curiosity.

Minki liked to get weird gifts. Only a few weeks after Jonghyun started working with them, he’d spent forever worrying about what to get Aaron, only to find out Minki had gotten him a big bucket of mud.

(Jonghyun had gotten him a coffee mug with dogs on it in the end. Yeah, it was a dumb gift, but Aaron had used it, at least. Jonghyun had caught him drinking some weird, almost sludgy liquid out of it that same day.

He’d said it was a common drink from where he grew up, and they’d left it at that. Jonghyun hadn't wanted to offend him, no matter how awful it looked.)

With a small ‘aha!’ Minki pulled something wrapped in tissue paper from his bag. He passed it to Jonghyun. Whatever it was weighed very little.

“I found it while I was diving,” Minki said. “Be careful with it. It’s fragile.” Jonghyun handled it even more carefully. It must be a shell. He pulled the paper away and frowned, for a second not comprehending what Minki had just given him. 

The spiral shell was all brown, nothing like the striking colors and patterns Jonghyun normally saw. It was about the length of his palm, nestled in a bed of tissue paper.

From how Minki was smiling, there was more to it than Jonghyun was seeing. It wasn’t until he lifted it with his other hand that he realized.

“Minki, this is a left-handed shell. How did you find this?”

“Just around,” Minki said and left it at that. Jonghyun couldn’t take his eyes off the shell, his mind running through the mollusk families. It was definitely a true whelk, and if that was true, it had to be _Neptunea angulate._

He’d never seen one in person.

“Is it really—?” He trailed off, his eyes frozen on the shell.

“I thought you’d like it.” Minki wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed his arm. “I’m so glad you do.”

“I’ve never seen a sinistral shell in person.” Only ten percent of all the whelks in the world had a leftward—left-handed, they called it—spiral. This was one of them.

This was also an extinct species. Most of the fossils found were in museums, and Jonghyun had never even heard of someone just finding one. Maybe Minki had bought it but didn’t want to say that? Jonghyun hoped it wasn’t too expensive. 

“Thank you so much,” he said. “I’d hug you, but, uh.” He wasn’t letting this shell out of his sight until it was safe. Knowing him he’d drop it into the water or something.

“Nerd,” Minki said fondly. “Put your shell away and hug me. Then we’d better go to the breakroom or else Dongho’s gonna eat the whole cake.”

When they went inside, it was to a chorus of Aaron and Minhyun’s laughter. Dongho had gotten icing on his coat and was struggling to get it off while wearing it. Jonghyun offered to hold it for him while he cleaned it, and they only laughed harder.

“I love you man, but not that much,” Dongho said, and with Minki’s laughter in his ear and his arm still around Minki’s shoulder, Jonghyun decided it didn’t matter all that much if he understood the joke or not.

“Happy birthday,” Minhyun said. “We have to sing for you!”

“Please not in here.” Aaron groaned. “It’s hot as balls, and I’m drying out.”

“Outside,” Minki said. “Let’s go back outside.”

On the deck, cake in hand as the wind carried their laughter away, Jonghyun wondered how everything had become so perfect.

 

\--

 

“You live with a roommate, right?” Aaron asked. He peeked through the crack of Jonghyun’s front door as Jonghyun opened it.

“Yeah, Seungcheol. He’s probably sleeping though. He’s kinda nocturnal.”

“Why haven’t you ever introduced him to us?” Minhyun asked. “Aren’t you friends?” He added his shoes to the rack, next to Jonghyun’s. Aaron did the same.

“With you?”

Aaron laughed, and the sharp sound broke through the silence of his apartment.

Minhyun pouted. “That was mean.”

“You’ll live,” Aaron said. “Are those fish?” He perked up as he walked over.

“Yeah, I’ve got a pleco and a few tetras.” Jonghyun’s tank was one-hundred gallons. He’d planned on more fish, but then his pleco had grown into a giant, nearly twenty-five centimeters across. It was a big bottom feeder, who liked to attach itself to the glass, and Jonghyun thought he was cute.

(Seungcheol called him a sea monster, but what did he know about fish, anyway?)

Minhyun took a few steps closer, but Aaron spun around.

“You’ll scare him!” he said. “Stay there.”

Minhyun rolled his eyes. “Can I get a glass of water?” he asked Jonghyun. Aaron’s oddities didn’t seem to surprise him, but well, they shouldn’t by now.

“Sure.” Jonghyun led the way to their small kitchen. He grabbed a glass. Minhyun made a face at the stack of dishes in his sink.

Jonghyun pushed them aside so he could fit the glass under the faucet.

“Wait, I can’t drink tap water,” Minhyun said.

“It’s got a filter on it.”

“Do you have any distilled?”

“No?” Jonghyun said, incredulously. “What the hell, Minhyun?”

Minhyun rolled his eyes. “Fine, then bottled?”

“Let me see.” Jonghyun opened the fridge. A few of Seungcheol's weird red drinks were in the way. Jonghyun took one out. “Hold this,” he said and passed it to Minhyun.

“Um,” Minhyun said. “What is it?”

Jonghyun made an ‘I dunno’ type sound. “It’s my roommate’s. He drinks them like every day.”

“This smells like—”

“Here.” Jonghyun pulled out a water bottle and handed it to Minhyun, returning Seungcheol’s drink to the fridge.

Minhyun squinted at the label before opening it and sniffing it. Jonghyun raised his eyebrows.

“I think this is just bottled tap water.”

“Well, suck it up or dehydrate. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

Minhyun took a small sip and grimaced.

“I’m going back in there,” Jonghyun said. Minhyun followed him.

Aaron was still by Jonghyun’s fish tank. That was fine, until Jonghyun realized he’d taken the lid off, and his arm was in the water.

“What are you doing?” Jonghyun demanded. Aaron startled but left his arm inside. It wasn’t that Jonghyun didn’t trust Aaron; he was just attached to his fish.

(And okay, maybe he didn’t trust Aaron.)

“I’m touching the algae,” Aaron said. “And making friends with your pleco.” He grinned. The water was high enough on his arm to wet the edges of his t-shirt. Drops of water rolled down the glass.

The water made Aaron’s arm look almost green in it, and fuck, was it really that dirty? But that wasn’t what Jonghyun should be focusing on now.

“Why?” Jonghyun asked, weakly. When he’d imagined bringing his friends here, this wasn’t what he’d pictured.

“I haven’t touched this much algae in forever,” Aaron said. “Mr. Plecostomus—is that what you call him? That’s what he wants you to call him—loves it too. He says it tastes better than the pet store’s ever did.”

“Excuse me?” Jonghyun shot a confused look at Minhyun, trying to judge if he comprehended what was happening. “What the fuck?”

Minhyun sighed and crossed the rest of the distance to Aaron.

Jonghyun’s pleco darted to the back corner of the tank, as far from them as possible and a far cry from how it had been stuck to Aaron’s arm.

“You scared him,” Aaron said. He didn’t look up. “I told you not to come too close.”

“Aaron.” Minhyun’s tone was firm, and Aaron’s giddiness seemed to plummet.

He pulled his arm from the water and cleared his throat. When Jonghyun caught his eye, Aaron winced. “Anyway.” He looked away. “This is awkward.”

“I can—get you a towel?” Jonghyun offered. Anything to move them past whatever just happened.

“That’d be brilliant,” Aaron said. “I’m, uh, sorry about that. I got excited.” He balanced the lid back on Jonghyun’s tank. Even out of the water, his arm had an odd greenish tinge to it.

“No harm done,” Jonghyun said. He hoped, at least, but his pleco seemed fine and the tetras were unbothered. “Just, maybe don’t do that next time?”

Minhyun’s arm wrapped around Aaron’s shoulder, and he relaxed into it.

Jonghyun retrieved a towel and passed it to Aaron.

“I grew up with a lot of fish,” Aaron said. “We both did.” He and Minhyun sat on Jonghyun’s couch.

“What kinds?” Jonghyun asked. As an afterthought, he grabbed a can of beer for himself and Aaron, then sat on the floor. He mimed tossing the can at Aaron to prepare him, but Minhyun reached over and passed it to Aaron instead.

“A lot of them,” Aaron said. “Catfish and tons of snails. So many snails."

“I had bluegill,” Minhyun said. “Some perch, too, and darters.” He’d picked up a new light in his eyes, one that Jonghyun didn’t normally see.

“I didn’t realize you knew anything about fish,” Jonghyun said. Minhyun got so romantic about nature sometimes that Jonghyun had always—potentially incorrectly—assumed he didn’t know all that much about ecology. 

“I grew up by a lake,” Minhyun said. "Didn't you know that?"

“Well, yeah, but lots of people live by water and don't care about it.” Jonghyun shifted so he was laying down on his stomach, his chin resting on his hands. He would know after four years of studying all the ways people were killing their own water sources and all the ways no one cared. “You just never seemed that interested?”

“Yeah, well, that’s because salt water is stupid. Like, seriously, who thought it was a good idea to add salt to perfectly good water? It’s practically blasphemy.”

“Please not this again.” Aaron groaned.

“You agreed with me?”

“That doesn’t mean I want to hear it again.”

“But I’m right,” Minhyun insisted. “Jonghyun, you hate salt water too, right? That’s why you never swim.”

It took him a second to process the question. “What? No, I just can’t swim.”

“Wait, really?” Aaron said, and Jonghyun guessed he was going to go through this whole thing again.

“You should know that,” he said. “I told everyone when I first started here.”

Aaron waved a hand. “Anything you told me during the trial period was in one ear, out the other.” He grinned shamelessly. “I really didn’t think you would stick around.”

Jonghyun hadn’t realized he’d had a trial period, but looking back, he wasn’t too surprised. He hadn’t thought he’d stay either, but marine biologists couldn’t afford to turn down full-time, decently-paid positions for important reasons, let alone just not fitting in or whatever.

“You guys are lucky this job pays well,” he said. It had taken them through the first season and into a winter’s worth of boat repairs and improvements for Jonghyun to truly call them all friends. “And lucky I put up with so much.”

Minhyun snorted. “Don’t act like you’re not just as weird as any of us." He shot a pointed look at the array of posters on Jonghyun’s walls. Most were from anime and different video games. Some were of animals or landscape shots. Altogether, they made a confusing array of unrelated interests.

“Hey, I'm a lot better than you,” Jonghyun protested. At least he didn't have a bathtub in his workplace. Or stuck his arm into his friend's fish tank.

"You work on a boat but can't swim?"

"Some of us didn't grow up near water," Jonghyun said. "And it's hard to learn! And don't act like you're any better, you get rashes whenever you get splashed?"

"Point to Jonghyun there," Aaron said solemnly. "Why are you here again?"

Minhyun rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up."

"Why? Clearly I'm the best here."

"Oh yeah?" Minhyun said. "When it rains, you're the last to know."

Maybe it was the odd insult itself or maybe it was Aaron's betrayed face, but Jonghyun had to laugh. He covered his mouth with one hand, and Minhyun started giggling too, then laughed in his full, annoying way.

"I hate you guys," Aaron grumbled. "We should just play." He nodded at the TV, and right, they’d come to play Mario Kart. Minhyun had admitted earlier that he’d never played it, and Jonghyun needed to remedy that.

"Is it only for three players?" Minhyun asked.

"Huh? No."

"Oh," he said. "Then why didn't you invite Minki?"

Aaron looked at Jonghyun as Minhyun asked too, and Jonghyun hesitated. He'd invited Dongho, but he'd been busy, and Jonghyun had originally planned to invite Minki too. 

"I'm sure he'd rather go out or something," Jonghyun said. Something about inviting Minki over had had his stomach twisting with nerves. "He wouldn't want to come."

Minhyun and Aaron exchanged a glance but said nothing aloud.

"What?"

"Nothing," Aaron said. Lied. "Are you blushing?"

"What? No?" Now Jonghyun's face heated up, but it was only because they'd drawn attention to it. "Why would I be blushing?"

"Let's just play," Minhyun said, and Jonghyun took the out he'd offered and grabbed three controllers.

Blushing over Minki— that was ridiculous. He'd been nervous about asking, but that was only because Minki would've had better things to do. Nothing about actually asking him.

The light coming in through the window glared off his fish tank. Jonghyun double-checked on his fish, only to stop and stare at the glass.

He had seen his pleco leave streaks on the glass whenever the tank got on the dirty side, but this was the first time it had left a heart-shaped mark. Jonghyun shook his head and handed the controllers over.

Weird.

 

\--

 

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so rude to Aaron, Minki.” The sporadic rushes of wind seemed to match the storm in Minki’s eyes, despite how the wind was characteristic of their upper deck, and Minki's anger was anything but. There were dolphins on the horizon—bottlenoses, no doubt. Ten or so minutes ago, they’d been jumping in _Polaris’_ wake before she had gotten too close to the dock.

“Oh, so you’re taking his side?” Minki said. He huffed when Jonghyun didn’t immediately protest. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Minhyun and Dongho were the ones saying goodbye to customers today. Jonghyun didn’t know where Aaron had gone, not that there were all that many places on _Polaris._

“You called him ‘It’ over the radio,” Jonghyun said. “That’s a bit far, don’t you think?” He kept his voice soft, not wanting to anger him further.

“He knows what I meant.”

“Yeah, we all know that.”

Minki and Aaron had an odd relationship, and Minki’s ribs at Aaron were quick and constant, harsher than any of the others.

“You don’t,” Minki said. “You don’t know anything.”

Jonghyun rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Minki. I’ve known you for a year. I get that these things are normal for you two, but ‘It’ is a bit far.”

“It makes sense,” Minki argued. “If you took a minute to think—”

“You told someone Aaron’s ‘from the swamp’ the other day. Like, yeah, he’s a foreigner, but isn’t that too far? I think it bothers him.”

There was a beat of uncharacteristic silence. Jonghyun looked at Minki only for him to avert his eyes back to the ocean. The waves rolled as peacefully as ever.

“You really think that little of me?” Minki asked, finally. He laughed, and the sound was like taking a sip of new coffee only to find it bitter and cold.

Jonghyun flinched. “Minki—”

“I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised, right?” he said. “There’s a reason I’m not the one you invite places.”

Jonghyun blinked. “What do you mean? We go out sometimes.”

“With the others, yeah. But since you think I don’t care about them—”

“I never said that.” Jonghyun tried to catch hold of the conversation as it slipped through his fingers like sand.

“You’re the one I’m not supposed to care about,” Minki said. He laughed again, the bad one. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait, Minki—” But he was already on his way down the stairs. Jonghyun stared after him.

Their customers had already cleared off, and soon enough, Minki was on the dock too. He didn’t look back.

Jonghyun should go down, but he found himself staring where he’d last seen Minki. He could count the number of real fights he’d had with any of them on one hand, and Jonghyun had always known what caused the others.

This didn’t make sense.

He flinched when the tell-tale footsteps started up the stairs but didn’t say anything when Dongho leaned against the railing beside him.

When Jonghyun didn’t speak, Dongho sighed.

“What happened?” he prodded, and his tone was sincere but a little too matter-of-fact. Maybe he already knew. After all, he had his own set of jokes with all the others too. The ones that Jonghyun wasn’t privy to.

Why was it that the end of the day, the ocean was always his closest friend?

(Jonghyun recognized he was throwing a somewhat ridiculous pity party for himself, but his heart hurt. It ached like he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life, and he didn’t even know what he’d done.)

“I didn’t do anything,” Jonghyun said, finally. He clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms, but the accompanying anger was dull. He almost longed for flames instead. “I don’t know what happened.”

Dongho sighed, and now Jonghyun regretted that too. For as long as Jonghyun had known Dongho, he’d been smiling and laughing and so genuinely good-willed that Jonghyun never liked to cause him conflict.

He was never one to jump in with boatloads of advice, though, and so they stood there in silence.

“You should come out with me tonight,” Dongho said. “I’m meeting some other friends. You’d like them.”

Just the idea of meeting new people when he was already short of energy drained him further. “I’m just going to go home. Maybe another time. I’m tired.”

“Then maybe Minhyun and—”

“I’m just going to go home,” Jonghyun repeated. He didn’t want to talk about it.

Dongho let him leave.

Jonghyun’s walk to his apartment didn’t take long, and all too soon, he found himself standing in front of the door. Seungcheol was likely up by now, and he’d always been scary good at reading Jonghyun’s mood.

He’d want Jonghyun to talk about whatever just happened, and that wasn’t what Jonghyun wanted to do.

So his fingers paused halfway through the code, and he turned straight around and walked until he neared the shore.

After so long here—five years, though he’d only really started coming to this part of the beach after he’d graduated—Jonghyun had a favorite spot. There wasn’t anything all that special about it, but it was his.

There were too many rocks there for the tourists to fill the whole place, but a few families dotted the sand. As the sky darkened, and the water turned from blue to black, they began to clear away. Fiddler crabs, with their one long claw and one tiny claw, ran over the dunes.

The wind ran through Jonghyun’s hair, and he tilted his face up, until it brought tears to his eyes. Then there were tears on his face, and even when Jonghyun stopped looking up, they didn’t stop falling.

He didn’t even know why. Minki had never been angry with him like that before, at least not without reason.

There were stars appearing in the sky, even through the light pollution that littered the whole area. Jonghyun leaned back on his elbows and stared upwards. He’d talk to Minki tomorrow. His anger always burned out quickly, and Jonghyun could apologize for whatever he wanted him to. This would be okay.

Maybe Minki would explain everything to him.

Jonghyun looked back towards the ocean and startled. A pair of eyes gleamed from the water, oddly human, yet undoubtedly a harbor seal once Jonghyun could make out its dark head. He leaned forward, even though his legs were straight out in front of him, and his hamstrings burned. His jeans rubbed against the thin material of his jacket.

Jonghyun smiled. He’d never seen a seal up close like this before. It lumbered from the water, bouncing up and down as it moved. The seal didn’t stop, coming closer and closer, until Jonghyun’s spine stiffened, and his smile fell.

It was as large as him and about three times as solid. The seal’s mouth was slightly open, revealing what Jonghyun knew were sharp teeth made for catching fish. He sat utterly still, in case this was a territorial behavior, and his heart plummeted when the seal stared at him.

Tourists sometimes fed the animals on the beaches, and habituated wild animals were never a good idea. Jonghyun spared a second he didn’t have for a silent ‘fuck tourists,’ and then the seal was beside him.

It flopped half its body onto him, the water soaking into his jeans, the weight uncomfortable on his legs.

Jonghyun froze. The seal blinked its huge, wet eyes. They were intelligent. So intelligent Jonghyun questioned if it understood the situation better than he did.

Like a grand pause, nothing happened.

A minute passed, and still nothing. Then another. At some point, Jonghyun released a long, shaky breath, and the seal didn’t react. His foot tingled as his legs went numb, and somehow, Jonghyun wasn’t certain whether that was better or worse.

He ran a shaking hand down its mottled brown back. The seal was smooth and soft and wet. It didn’t react to the touch.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice caught in his throat, and of course, the seal didn’t answer. It couldn’t understand him.

Finally, unable to take it any longer, Jonghyun shifted his numb, numb legs. The seal backed off, then rested its head on his thigh—almost like an apology (if, you know, Jonghyun was into anthropomorphizing animals.)

“You shouldn’t come up to people like this,” Jonghyun said. His voice cracked halfway through, and his hand was shaking. His whole body was shaking, thrumming with fear, with awe, with the realization that he had no idea what had just happened.

The seal returned to the water, but Jonghyun swore it looked back one last time.

 

\--

 

“Jonghyunnie…” Minki’s voice was tentative, and the use of his nickname suggested Minki wasn’t sure about what he was about to say. Jonghyun kept his eyes on the oyster shell in his hands because he didn’t want to drop the gelatinous mass in it.

He lobbed the jellyfish into the water. One of the gulls—the giant one, with the nearly two-meter wingspan—flew overhead. The wind tossed it all over the place, but it accepted each push and pull with an easy shift of its feathers.

“Huh?” Jonghyun asked, when Minki didn’t finish. Minki had been the one who’d asked him if he wanted to take a walk, but despite that, they hadn’t talked much yet. The sand stuck to his oyster shell scratched against his fingers.

“You know those are dead, right?” Minki asked. “They can’t breathe out of water.”

Jonghyun scooped down to get another. This one had already hardened into a shiny, solid mass. He didn’t bother to use the shell but threw it into the water all the same. “I know,” he said. “I just like doing this.”

As a young kid, he’d done this with every jellyfish he saw on the rare occasions he got to come to the ocean. Back then, he’d thought he was saving them, and no matter what his parents said, nothing could convince him otherwise.

“Why?” Minki asked. Jonghyun avoided his eyes. There was a small flock of sandpipers ten or so meters away from them. As a wave stretched up the shore, the birds ran away, but once the ocean pulled it back, the birds chased after the water.

As he and Minki neared, they flew off in a small flock, low over the water. Far, far out, there was another group of larger birds, stretched in a line over the horizon.

“It just seems like the right thing to do,” Jonghyun said. “I dunno.”

Minki smiled, the kind of fond look that always made Jonghyun’s breath catch in his chest. “Of course you’d say that,” he said. “That’s such a you-thing to say.”

“It is?” Jonghyun had never really thought of himself as someone unique enough for characteristic phrases.

“When we first met, I kept waiting for you to be less nice,” Minki said. Jonghyun frowned at him. He’d been referencing the past a lot recently, and Jonghyun didn’t know why. It had only been a year ago. “Eventually, I realized that you’re just—like this.”

“I’m not that nice.”

“You put up with a lot more than most people, and you’re still here,” Minki said. “I didn’t expect you to stay.”

There wasn’t really a reason for him to leave. “Did you want me to leave?” His heart squeezed in time with the words, and then harder when there was a brief pause.

“That’s the last thing I want, Jonghyun.” When Jonghyun looked over at Minki—questioning why there was no nickname, no joke, no nothing—he realized there was red on Minki’s face.

He was blushing. Jonghyun’s face heated up in immediate response, but he couldn’t avert his eyes to hide it. This was the least perfect Minki’s face has ever been, and Jonghyun had never found him so captivating before.

His fingertips tingled, and the amount he wanted to touch made his breath catch in his throat. Minki’s skin would be so warm.

Jonghyun tried to dull his curiosity, his face reddening further. He was being weird today, probably because of how relieved he was that Minki wanted to talk about what had happened.

“You said you didn’t want to get close to me,” Jonghyun said. Minki had said he wasn’t supposed to, and Jonghyun had no idea what the hell that even meant.

“We already had our system, and if there would’ve been any way to get around hiring another person, I wouldn’t have found you.” Minki shot him a look, and for some reason, his gaze burned. “And now you’re here another year.”

Jonghyun’s heart sank. “Do you feel…obligated? To keep me on?”

“No, we need you,” Minki said, and it was true. The others couldn’t answer questions the way Jonghyun could. They couldn’t run a whale-watching business without someone who knew something about whales. “It’s just making me think. I’m sorry for taking that out on you when it’s not your fault.”

Jonghyun still didn’t totally understand, but Minki’s apology was heartfelt, and Jonghyun was eager to move past this. “It’s okay,” he said. “Just, talk to me, yeah?”

“That’s why I’m here,” Minki said. There was a jellyfish on the sand in front of him, and he scooped it up with his hands.

Even though they were dead, sometimes they could still sting. But Minki had grown up by the sea. Jonghyun had never thrown caution to the wind like that, but maybe Minki had learned with the fearlessness of a child. 

He had always admired Minki's bravery, from the way he spoke to how he'd decided to start a business with his friends and it somehow all worked perfectly.

The dead jellyfish made a small splash, and Jonghyun’s smile widened so far it stung his chapped lips.

“Have I ever told you how I got _Polaris?” Minki asked._

Jonghyun shook his head. He’d asked before because she was so clearly an old houseboat, but he’d only gotten variations of vague, conflicting stories.

“That cove I showed you? Things get caught in it, and about—maybe three years ago?— _Polaris_ washed up. No identification numbers, no people on board. Nothing. Dongho and Minhyun thought I was crazy for keeping her.”

“You never tried to find whoever owned her?” Jonghyun asked, a little scandalized. He hadn’t realized he was working on a stolen boat.

“Without the identification, what could I do? We had no idea where she came from.”

“Something could’ve happened to the owners.” Jonghyun furrowed his brow. “What if they needed help?”

Minki sighed. “Jonghyun— I know it’s different for you, because you didn’t grow up here, but unexplained boats really aren’t the rarest thing.” Minki’s voice dropped to a more serious tone, and Jonghyun struggled to keep up.

“What do you mean?” he asked. They’d stopped walking, and for once, Jonghyun didn’t turn to watch the pelicans flying by. “I don’t get it.”

There was an uncharacteristic pause, like Minki was searching for words.

“There’s a lot of stories about a lot of things being out there.”

“Like?”

“Mermaids and stuff like that.”

Jonghyun laughed, but it stuttered to a stop when he realized Minki hadn’t meant that as a joke.

“You can’t be serious,” he said. “If there was anything like that out there, we’d have records.”

“Don’t be close-minded,” Minki said. His lips quirked into a strange smile. “It’s a bad look on you.”

“Do you think there are things out there like that?”

“Of course,” Minki said. “Don’t you believe in ghosts? Why is this different?”

That was a fair point. “I mean, I don’t think we know everything about the ocean. I think we know hardly anything about it, really, so I guess. I just—there’s a more logical explanation for why _Polaris_ was abandoned.”

Minki accepted that answer. “I’m glad she was,” he said, and Jonghyun wished he understood why it felt like so much went unsaid. “She brought us together.”

Jonghyun smiled. “I’m glad too.” He hadn’t helped with most of her restorations, only the few that took her from usable to proficient. That hadn’t stopped her from becoming a home for him, though.

And he’d found a home among the people too. Even if there were secrets, and even if Minki still hadn’t told him why it mattered so much that Jonghyun was a part of _Polaris’_ crew. He, Dongho, and Minhyun might’ve known each other for a long time, but they’d only known Aaron for a year or so longer than Jonghyun.

He tried to drop it. These were his friends.

Minki bent down and grabbed another jellyfish.

“You’re not helping your case,” Jonghyun said.

Minki raised an eyebrow, and Jonghyun failed to repress a smile. His eyes crinkled.

“To get me to swim. Now you’ll never get me out there.”

Minki laughed. “I’ll keep you safe,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

 

\--

 

Jonghyun still hadn’t totally figured out how ‘I’m coming over; you don’t mind, right?’ turned into this. Minhyun leaned against Jonghyun’s door, his gaze softer than Jonghyun would’ve predicted, but well, he’d always had a soft spot for Aaron.

“Why did you want to come over?” Jonghyun asked, trying to save the conversation.

“We needed to talk to you.” Minhyun pitched his voice louder. “Aaron!”

“Give me a minute! I need to warn them you’re coming.” Aaron was standing by Jonghyun’s fish tank—again. At least this time he was entirely outside of it.

He’d made it clear Minhyun shouldn’t come in until Aaron gave him the okay.

“What’s happening?” Jonghyun had been present for all of it, but that didn’t mean he understood.

Minhyun laughed. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “It’s nothing.” When Aaron gave him the okay, he took his shoes off and entered. Jonghyun finally closed the door.

“So why’d you want to come over?” Jonghyun addressed Aaron, who’d been the one to text him.

“Minki said you and him talked,” Aaron said. Jonghyun raised an eyebrow when he didn't add more. That wasn’t nearly enough to warrant an evening visit. “Ah, I’m not exactly sure how to ask you this?”

Minhyun took over. “We were just wondering how it went.”

“Did Minki not say?” Jonghyun raised his eyebrows. “And why does it matter?”

“If you’re asking that, you clearly haven’t been around sad Minki enough.”

“We’re worried about him,” Minhyun added. “And you, for that matter. You seemed pretty bummed too.”

Jonghyun sighed. “Look, I appreciate it, but it’s not necessary. We’re fine.”

“Are you sure about that? You guys never argue.”

“We literally argued my first day.” Jonghyun hadn’t even technically been hired yet.

Aaron waved a hand. “That doesn’t count. You had a reason to yell.”

(Jonghyun’s ‘What do you _mean_ you don’t have any life jackets?’ had echoed so loudly he wouldn’t have been surprised if people on shore heard it.)

“He apologized,” Jonghyun said. “It’s forgotten.”

“Is it?” Minhyun asked, and Jonghyun didn’t like how they both seemed to know more than they were saying.

“Would you stop doing that? Yes. I told you.”

“Sorry, it’s just, Dongho said you were super upset.” Aaron ran a hand through his hair. “I know there are things you don’t know and Minki’s taking his goddamn time to tell you—”

“It’s up to him what he tells me. If he wants to keep something private, he’s allowed to.”

“He doesn’t really,” Aaron said.

“Is it something bad?” Jonghyun asked. He pressed his lips together as though to take the question back. “You don’t have to answer that.”

“It’s not,” Minhyun said. “I bet you already know.”

That didn’t make any sense, but Jonghyun frowned and nodded. He wouldn’t press their friends to tell him Minki’s secrets.

“But really, Jonghyun,” Minhyun said. “At this point, you should ask him first.”

“I did ask. He didn’t explain.”

Minhyun rolled his eyes. “Ask him out, idiot. We’ve been waiting for it forever.”

Jonghyun blinked as his mind stuttered to a halt. “What.”

“You don’t have to hide it,” Aaron said. “Trust me, we don’t judge.”

“No, I mean—what are you talking about?” Jonghyun asked.

“Oh great, you’re hopeless,” Aaron said. He turned to Minhyun. “Why do we even try?”

Minhyun rested a hand on Aaron’s shoulder, but Jonghyun knew the small, upturned corners of his mouth were because of him.

“Look,” Jonghyun said. “I know what happened with you two, but Minki and I are different.”

“Of course you are,” Aaron said. “Different situations and all. But don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to date him.”

“I’ve never even thought about that,” Jonghyun said. “I’m sure Minki hasn’t either.”

Minhyun moved to Jonghyun’s fish tank. His pleco swam to the back corner.

“We’re not trying to force you into anything,” Aaron said. “But think about it, okay? You and Minki get into one fight, and you’re both upset for days.”

“I don’t like fighting with my friends.”

“You told me once that Minki’s the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen,” Minhyun said.

“Well, yeah, but I’m pretty sure everyone thinks that about him.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “If you want to keep living in a bubble—”

“It’s weird to think of a friend like that!” Jonghyun protested. “It’s not like I keep wanting to kiss him or something.”

“Just make sure you’re not confusing weird with bad,” Minhyun said. “That’s what held us back.” He gestured vaguely between him and Aaron.

“I thought I’d have to start, like, being nice to him if I was dating him,” Aaron said, as though he hadn’t always had a ridiculously soft spot for Minhyun. “Turns out I don’t have to.”

Minhyun didn’t glorify that with a response. “It’s okay to have feelings, Jonghyun.”

“Stop acting like I’m dumb,” Jonghyun said. “I’ve been in love before; I know what it’s like.”

“We don’t think you’re dumb,” Aaron said. “Just worried you might be scared, and trust me, there’s no reason to be.”

Jonghyun’s face reddened at that. “Minki’s not interested in relationships. That’s what he always says.” It wasn’t all that uncommon for people to ask Minki to catch a drink with them. He’d always made it clear that it was as friends or not at all.

“Well, he does, yeah,” Aaron said. He shared a look with Minhyun, and Jonghyun was tired of silent conversations that went over his head. “But I don’t think that’s the whole story.”

Jonghyun’s heart raced in his chest, and he avoided their eyes. He wished he could cover his blush somehow.

When he didn’t answer, Minhyun smiled. “It’s just something to think about,” he said. “No pressure.”

 

\--

 

Everything sucked. Jonghyun was curled up in a seat in their small breakroom, even though it was lunch time, and all the others had cleared out to get food.

He needed to think. Whatever Minhyun and Aaron had wanted to accomplish by prodding Jonghyun about his relationship with Minki, all they’d succeeded in doing was making him question way too much way too often.

Minki’s touches had never burned before, but Jonghyun’s face had gone sunburn red with each one. He’d never noticed how many small touches he and Minki shared, and worst of all, that same want to run his fingertips over Minki’s cheek persisted.

His skin must be so soft.

Jonghyun had shed his jacket for once, but even in only a t-shirt, sweat gleamed on his arms. He had earbuds in, but they weren’t enough to cover the sound of the engine switching on. Jonghyun poked his head up. They weren't supposed to go anywhere until the second tour later that day.

But if anyone was taking the boat, it was Minki. Jonghyun had napped on the boat while Minki took it out before. He’d rather do that than run away now.

Jonghyun settled in and curled up as comfortably as possible on the chair. He’d always been good at napping in odd places.

When the sound started, Jonghyun nearly slipped off the chair. He didn't know how long it had been and couldn't tell if they were still moving. 

There were no words to the music, and it reverberated as though they were surrounded by some old stone building, not the open sea.

Jonghyun stood on shaky legs. He’d never heard anything like it, and it traveled straight through his head until his ears were ringing with it. His phone thudded against the floor, and his earbuds ripped out. It stung, but that wasn't important.

He needed to find where the music came from. Everywhere. It sounded like everywhere, but Jonghyun still ached to stumble after it however he could.

There was something familiar about it, so familiar it made him freeze. He blinked a few times because his vision had blurred, and everything looked hazy. Jonghyun grasped onto the wall and tried to think. The music thudded through his mind.

Minki. It was Minki’s voice.

Jonghyun’s footsteps were slow and off-balanced, and the bright sun stung his eyes. Minki wasn’t in his immediate sight, and the singing still came from everywhere. Jonghyun clasped a hand on the railing just to keep himself stable.

It was like Minki was in the water, but he couldn’t be. Jonghyun twisted his neck but turning didn’t change how he heard the sound. It was in both ears, filling them with cotton yet crystal clear, and Jonghyun had never needed to find something so strongly in his life. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard.

Jonghyun wanted to call out, but he didn’t dare interrupt. He crossed to the other deck, and finally, there Minki was. His hair blew in the mind, and his back faced Jonghyun, but that alone knocked out Jonghyun’s shaky knees. He barely caught himself on the railing.

His momentum clanged against the metal, and the singing cut off. Minki spun around, eyes wide, and he said something to Jonghyun, but the ringing was too loud. Jonghyun couldn’t hear anything but it.

His head throbbed, and his entire body trembled. Minki rushed closer, and Jonghyun reached out for him, grabbing anything he could reach.

“—away from the edge,” Minki was saying, and Jonghyun tried to pay attention. He didn’t realize just how much of his weight Minki was bearing until he staggered trying to move them both, but when Jonghyun tried to pull away, Minki only held him closer.

The sound in his ears was like crashing waves, and the white noise drowned out all else. Minki pulled him into Dongho’s navigation room. He locked the door and sank to the floor, dragging Jonghyun down with him.

“What are you doing here?” Minki demanded, and he seemed so scared that Jonghyun wanted to tell him it was okay, that everything was okay no matter what, but he didn’t know any words. Silently, Jonghyun clung to Minki. He had such a beautiful voice.

Jonghyun breathed slowly, in and out, and with time, the waves faded away, but his head continued to pound. Jonghyun’s face reddened as he noted exactly how tightly he clung to Minki, and he pulled back.

He tried to apologize, and his words echoed in the air, but he wasn’t entirely certain they were real words at all.

His hands were still shaking, and he had the material of Minki’s shirt balled up in one like a child.

“You’re okay,” Minki said. “I promise. You’ll feel better soon.”

Jonghyun trusted him because Minki was his closest friend, because he cared about Minki and Minki cared about him. He closed his eyes and rested his head on his shoulder, and sometime later, the headache started to blessedly, blessedly fade.

Minki’s hand ran through his hair, and Jonghyun relaxed further and further into the touch.

“Feeling better?” Minki asked.

“Like I need to sleep for a year,” Jonghyun said. His voice was still a little weak. “But yeah.” He shifted off Minki and tucked his knees into his chest, wrapping his arms around them. Jonghyun leaned his forehead against them and breathed.

Minki’s hand rested on his back, and Jonghyun could feel him trembling.

“I didn’t mean to make you stop,” Jonghyun said into his legs. ”You have a really pretty voice.”

“You shouldn’t have been on here at all,” Minki said. “You should’ve gone to get something to eat.”

“I was taking a nap.”

“You and your naps,” Minki said, and maybe it was meant to be exasperated, but Jonghyun could only hear relief. Minki’s fingers rubbed small circles into his back. “We need to talk, okay? But only once you’re feeling better.”

Jonghyun lifted his head. “We can talk now; I’m okay. What’s wrong?”

Minki snorted. “And that’s why we can’t talk now.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Jonghyun, you almost threw yourself overboard.”

“What? No, I wanted to listen to you. I was just gonna stand there, but I—this happened.”

“Wait, really?” Now Minki looked uncertain. He shot a glance towards the door. “I thought you just tripped.”

“Why would I ever jump?” Jonghyun asked. “I’d drown? You’re not making sense.”

“Didn’t you want to find the singing? That’s why you came out.”

“I mean, I assumed you were singing from the deck,” Jonghyun said. “I usually don’t guess you jumped off when I want to find you.” He frowned. “Were you going to jump?”

“No!” Minki said. “So you don’t feel like you should go in the water at all now?”

“No? What the hell?”

“Okay.” Minki took a deep breath. “Okay. I need to get us back, but stay in here? So I can keep an eye on you.”

“So I don’t go off and drown?”

“Please don’t joke about that,” Minki said, and the strain in his voice shut Jonghyun up immediately.

“I don’t understand,” he said again. “What’s going on?”

Minki sighed and stood. “I need to get us back,” he repeated.

Jonghyun didn’t want to push him, not when he was so pale—how hadn’t Jonghyun noticed that before?—and not when Jonghyun was still so exhausted.

“You should sleep now,” Minki said. “You can rest while we do the tour, yeah?”

Jonghyun’s eyes shot open. He hadn’t noticed they were closed. “What? Minki, I’m fine.”

“You look like you need to sleep for a week.”

“I just took a nap.”

“It doesn’t count, and I don’t want you walking home alone.”

“Really?” Jonghyun asked. “That’s a bit much.”

“Can your roommate get you?”

Jonghyun rolled his eyes. “I can’t make Seungcheol come babysit me just because you think I need it. Besides, it’s too sunny out for him today.” His roommate had a sun allergy about as bad as Minhyun’s salt allergy.

“Please just stay then. I’ll explain after, okay?”

“I’ll lay down for a bit, then come out and help.”

Minki smiled, but there was still a drawn quality to it. “That works.”

Jonghyun grunted, still not too happy about the arrangement.

“I never would’ve let this happen if I knew you were here,” Minki said. “I asked if anyone was staying, but I thought you were already gone.”

Jonghyun winced. He’d avoided Minki at the end of the tour, trying to not make things weirder. Apparently, he’d done the opposite of what he should’ve.

“You are avoiding me,” Minki said softly, even though he had no right to deduce that from Jonghyun’s small silence.

“I— I’m not,” Jonghyun said, and it was the least persuasive tone he’d ever heard in his life. “I’m not mad at you or anything, really. Don’t think that.”

“Then why?”

Jonghyun didn’t answer. He couldn’t just tell Minki that Jonghyun’s heart pounded every time Minki devoted even a bit of attention onto him. That was weird. They’d been friends for over a year now.

Minki sighed, and Jonghyun wished he could pretend it was anger and not sadness wrapped into a louder package. He didn’t want Minki upset. Jonghyun wanted to make him smile, to hear him laugh.

He dropped his chin onto his knees. “You can’t ask me to tell you when you’re hiding things from me,” he mumbled. “I’m not stupid.”

“I told you, I’ll tell you today.”

“Everything?”

“Everything I can,” Minki said. “It’s a lot, and it’s not all mine to tell.”

That was fair. “So—everyone’s involved?” Jonghyun guessed, unsurprised. “Is it something bad?”

“Define bad.”

“Illegal?”

Minki laughed. “No, it’s nothing illegal.” His tone grew more somber. “It’s not bad, either. It’s just not that normal.”

“You’re afraid to tell me?”

“A little,” Minki admitted. “It’s a big thing. And—” His eyes shot away, like he was shy. Jonghyun tilted his head to the side because Minki wasn’t shy. “And I don’t want to lose you over it.”

A smile made its way onto Jonghyun’s face. “I don’t think you have to worry about that.” His volume dropped halfway through as his self-consciousness caught up to him.

“Yeah? You like us that much?”

He knew damn well that Jonghyun considered them all his closest friends. Jonghyun wet his lips and pulled his courage together. “I like you a lot.”

Jonghyun was certain Minki had noticed the ‘you’, but still, he deflected. “Don’t let Aaron hear that—or any of them, really. Clingy bastards.”

Jonghyun laughed, but he was barely paying attention. His eyes had found Minki’s lips. He had denied that Minki felt anything for him only a couple days before but was that really what he believed?

Minki constantly made certain Jonghyun was eating and sleeping enough, and even Jonghyun had to admit that Minki had a soft spot for him, of all their friends.

He’d never had a friendship where it felt so natural to touch each other. Jonghyun kinda didn’t like not touching Minki.

“Minhyun and Aaron would be thrilled, probably.” Jonghyun rolled his eyes. “They wouldn’t leave me alone the other day.”

Minki seemed to deflate a little when Jonghyun kept talking about their friends, and Jonghyun steeled himself. Maybe the awkwardness would go away if he told Minki, and Minki wasn’t the type to hate someone for falling for him.

“I’m glad we know each other,” Jonghyun said.

“Well, I’d hope so.”

“No, like—” He was already doing this poorly. “Last year I didn’t really know where I wanted to go, you know?”

Minki raised his eyebrows. “I thought you wanted to keep living here.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to do fieldwork. That means temporary jobs and traveling and all of that. The last thing I expected was this.”

“Hey, at least I pay well."

Jonghyun smiled. “Now when I think about the future, I just see myself here. Working here.” He swallowed hard. “With you.”

“With me?” Minki’s voice was tentative. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I—really like you. And— And I want you to know that, and I don’t want you to hide things from me.”

Jonghyun felt odd still on his butt even during the confession, so he rose to his feet. His head still spun but more from exhaustion than anything else.

“Careful.” Minki shot towards him and grabbed his wrist. His hand was warm against Jonghyun’s skin, and he was so close, even without them touching more.

Jonghyun couldn’t look away from him, and it was Minki’s hesitation and uncertainty and the sheer amount of care in them that made some of his nerves ebb away.

“You’re supposed to say something before holding my hand.”

Minki laughed, but Jonghyun could tell he had hardly heard the words. He switched his grip so they interlocked fingers. "Better?"

He leaned against the wall, and Minki moved forward into his space. Jonghyun’s breath caught in his throat, and he would have to be blind to miss how it affected Minki too. But they didn’t have much time. Minki should focus on getting _Polaris_ back in time, not on Jonghyun.

Minki knew that too. "We'll talk later?"

“After you tell me everything.” If they were doing this, Jonghyun needed to know what Minki had hidden from him. Minki agreed.

Jonghyun smiled, his heart fluttering like wild. “Now go focus on steering before you kill us both.”Even though they were still drifting. Minki had only gotten as far as turning the engine on when Jonghyun began his confession.

“Are you calling me irresponsible?” Minki let go of his hand, and Jonghyun wished they could be irresponsible.

“I’m saying you’re the type who’d hit something while we’re in open water.”

Minki laughed and gestured through the large windows. “What is there to hit?”

Jonghyun grinned back. “Exactly.” His heart was in his throat, and his face burned red, but this was good. He couldn’t take his eyes off Minki, who seemed to have the same struggle.

“Alright, alright,” Minki said. “You sit down and rest. Try to sleep.”

“Do you want me to stay in here?”

Minki hesitated. “If you don’t mind.”

Jonghyun slid down the wall. He wasn’t even that tired anymore; he’d probably wake up in the commotion of Dongho preparing to leave, and then he could go help.

His eyes had gotten heavy, and he sighed with relief when he propped his head against the wall. Jonghyun’s head still didn’t feel fantastic, but the giddy feeling in him warred with his exhaustion. He cracked his eyes open and watched Minki.

Minki had always looked at home anywhere on _Polaris._ He wasn't as good at maneuvering her as Dongho, but Jonghyun liked seeing him like this.

Minki threw a look back at him and his eyes widened when he caught Jonghyun already looking. His face reddened even further.

Jonghyun’s cheeks stung from how hard he was smiling.

 

\--

 

By the time they left _Polaris_ for the day, the sun had already sunk in the sky. They stopped for street food along the way, and Minki kept switching between eating and giving Jonghyun bites of fried chicken, until Jonghyun was laughing and telling him to eat his own food.

Now his stomach was pleasantly full, and the grogginess of the day had faded. They were seated on the beach, leaning back on their elbows to see the stars.

They’d never had a particularly good view of them, but Minki pointed out constellations startingly well.

At first Jonghyun had been waiting with bated breath for whatever Minki planned to tell him, whatever he hadn’t said in the past year. As the night wore on, he relaxed, then tensed up again as he wondered if this was a date, or where the line between a date and their normal hanging out was.

Still, it was hard to not relax when stretched out in the sand. There was an unfortunate amount rubbing against his skin, but that was nothing new.

Normally, he would’ve put his arm around Minki, and it would’ve been far from the first time they’d cuddled, but this time he hung back. They sat close but not too close. Shared smiles but still with a bit of tension in them.

Jonghyun hoped Minki would tell him soon.

“And you know Polaris, of course.”

Jonghyun grinned sheepishly. “I don’t.”

Minki raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know the north star?”

“Oh, I do.” Jonghyun’s face heated up. “I didn’t know those were the same thing.”

Minki hummed. “You know why I named _Polaris_ that, right?”

Jonghyun shook his head. He hadn’t even been certain it was Minki who named her at all. There was a simple star painted on her hull, and even when he’d first started there, it had been faded. He’d assumed the name either came from that.

“It’s sentimental as shit,” Minki said, and Jonghyun huffed out a surprised laugh. “I mean it. My life’s fucking leagues different than it was a few years ago, and it all started happening with that dumb boat. I doubt I would’ve met any of you without it.”

Jonghyun smiled. “I’m happy I met you too.”

Minki spared him a smile, but Jonghyun could see the tension in his face. This was it. Whatever he planned to say was about to be said.

“We’re all very different, right?” Minki said. “You’ve seen that.”

Jonghyun frowned. “I guess? We get along well, though.”

“But it took time.”

Jonghyun nodded because it was clear that was what Minki wanted from him.

“We never planned for you to stay,” Minki said. “Because we thought you’re a little too different? So we kept secrets, you know?”

Jonghyun made a nervous laugh. “Can you just tell me without the lead-up? I told you, as long as it isn’t illegal.”

“Fine.” Minki rolled his eyes. “I’m not human.”

Jonghyun gave him a profoundly unimpressed look. “You’re making that joke now?”

“Jonghyun, my voice made you sick. That’s not normal.”

“No, it wasn’t your voice! You sounded really nice.”

“Oh my god, I don’t mean—” Minki cut off. “Fine, if you want me to do it this way. I’m a siren. My voice put you in a trance, and I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

The words took time to process, and Jonghyun tried to find some hidden meaning. Minki fidgeted as he waited for a response, and wow, Jonghyun hadn’t expected to see him so nervous twice in one day.

“Minki,” Jonghyun said slowly. “Sirens don’t exist.”

“Says who?”

“Science?” Jonghyun had spent most of university learning about the ocean. People dedicated their entire life to learning about it. They couldn’t have just missed something like sirens.

Even though scientists really didn’t know what was in the ocean. Even though ecologists barely knew anything about the life on earth, because even the words they used to describe it were made up and imperfect, and everything was so much more complicated than anyone knew. 

Minki must have seen the change in his face, for his expression softened. “I know it’s a lot to tell you, but this is the truth. You said you don’t want me to keep secrets, and I don’t want to keep them anymore either.”

“You’re really serious?” he asked, his voice barely past a whisper. “All of you are sirens.”

Minki snorted. “Of course not. Just me.”

“But they’re also not human?”

“You believe me?”

Jonghyun had grown used to inexplicable things with his coworkers. Maybe this explained it. “Aaron had moss growing on his arm the other day.”

“Of course he did.” Minki rolled his eyes. “I’ll let them explain, but yeah. They said I should tell you first.”

“Okay,” Jonghyun said, as though that was enough. “Okay.” Like that made it better.

“You’re not freaking out?” Minki asked.

“I am absolutely freaking out.” Jonghyun laughed, and it came out panicked.

Minki wrapped an arm around him, and the right thing to do was to lean into him. This might be a first date—and what the literal fuck?—and Minki had been nervous, and Jonghyun should show him it was okay.

“Don’t sirens like, eat people?” Jonghyun asked.

“What? No! Well, sometimes,” Minki said. “But not that much, anymore.”

“Oh,” Jonghyun said, a little too faintly. “Oh.”

“Most of us have abandoned places we go and sing from,” Minki said. “So no one hears us. That’s what I was doing today.” He turned to look directly at Jonghyun. “I would’ve never done that if I knew you were there.”

Jonghyun didn’t doubt that. Minki had been so scared.

“No harm done,” Jonghyun said finally. “Right? Because I feel fine now. Still a bit tired, but that just might be me.”

“Probably is,” Minki said. “You’re okay. It’s not supposed to last too long after it stops. I’m just paranoid, I guess.”

Jonghyun tried on a tentative smile and was pleased to find it fit okay on his face. “That’s better than wanting me dead.”

Minki laughed, and it sounded like relief. “We should’ve told you a long time ago. I mean, we left hints, but you just never picked up on any of them.”

“Ah, well—” Jonghyun ducked his head. Minki had said he wasn’t human the day they met. “It takes a lot to guess your friends aren’t human?”

“You’re actually taking it well.”

“I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet?” He made a vaguely circular gesture near his head and laughed awkwardly. “Yeah.”

“You don’t just think I’m fucking with you though.”

Jonghyun wet his lips. “You wouldn’t do that,” he said. Even though Minki probably fucked with his friends the most out of the five of them, he wouldn’t do it with slumped shoulders and serious, nervous eyes. Jonghyun trusted him.

Their hands were only a couple centimeters apart, and Jonghyun slid his closer, until their pinkies brushed together. Minki shot him a look so hopeful that it only hardened Jonghyun’s certainty.

Minki wouldn’t do this just to fuck with him and there had always been something odd about his friends—jokes he didn’t get, things he couldn’t explain.

Hadn’t he accepted those things a long time ago?

“Today— I heard you, and I had to find you. I can’t explain what happened,” Jonghyun said. He furrowed his brow. “And— and people sometimes fall in just when they look at you.” Jonghyun still kinda felt like he was running on a lack of oxygen, but he tried to make a joke anyway. “You’re not that hot.”

“I’m hotter than any human, thank you very much,” Minki said. His eyes shot towards Jonghyun then back to the ocean. “But you’re pretty close.”

And oh, now Jonghyun couldn’t look at him either. The waves rolled all the way to the horizon. “So what does this mean?” he asked. For them, he meant, but he couldn’t say that aloud.

“I like you too, Jonghyun.”

He lifted his hand to his face like he could physically cover his blush, but he couldn’t stop his heart from thrumming painfully in his chest. No nickname, no joke. It didn’t seem like Minki. “But?” he asked.

“No ‘but’s,” Minki said. “If this doesn’t change things for you, it definitely doesn’t for me.”

It didn’t. It did. Jonghyun didn’t really know, but when he thought about leaving without Minki, his heart compressed in his chest until he was certain it would shatter.

“Will things be different? I don’t know—"

“The only difference now is that I’m really gonna force you to swim,” Minki said. “Because you won’t panic when you see my tail.”

Jonghyun mouthed the word ‘tail.’ His neck ached from how hard he’d snapped his head around to gawk. Minki covered his hand with his mouth as his shoulders shook.

“Oh god, your face.” Somehow the poorly timed joke was such a Minki thing to do that it relaxed him.

Jonghyun licked his lips. “So you…don’t have a tail?”

“No, I do.” Minki grinned. “Only when I’m in the water. Minhyun’s the same way.”

“I—oh,” Jonghyun said. “Oh.”

Minki patted his arm. “Just wait till you see Dongho.”

Right, they were all different species. Not sirens. Jonghyun didn’t know what they were yet.

“Minki?”

Minki turned to face him but remained silent. Waiting.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Jonghyun said because Minki was still the most beautiful person—being?—he’d ever seen, but even more than that, Minki was his best friend. There was no question that this wouldn’t change that, so why should it change anything else?

“I think I need time for it to sink in though,” he admitted.

Minki deflated, but he nodded. He stood, brushing the sand off his clothes, and Jonghyun did the same.

Minki opened his arms, and Jonghyun leaned into his arms for a tight hug. He kept Jonghyun close when they pulled back, and Jonghyun gave into temptation.

His thumb brushed so lightly over Minki’s cheek, right over the bone, that Jonghyun wondered if he’d made contact at all, or if he’d imagined the softness under his finger.

“See you soon?” he asked hopefully.

Minki squeezed his hand and repeated it back to him.

 

\--

 

“Hey, you don’t have work, right?” Jonghyun asked.

Seungcheol raised his eyebrows with the question. “Nah, not tonight.”

“Good,” Jonghyun said. “Watch a movie with me?”

“You’re not going out with your friends?”

Jonghyun had been right to tell Minki he needed a minute. He’d almost found it unnecessary by the end of their conversation, but once everything sunk in—Minki wasn’t human, none of his coworkers were human, Jonghyun had lowkey almost died yesterday, and literally, what the fuck?—things got more unclear.

Jonghyun hadn’t lied to Minki; he believed him. But also. 

Minki had told him none of them were human and that sirens existed. Jonghyun had spent the last year talking to a siren and who knows what else.

“Woah, dude,” Seungcheol said. “What’s up?”

Jonghyun wet his lips. Fuck, Seungcheol was going to think he was insane. “I don’t think I can say.”

“Are you okay?” Seungcheol was at his side in a flash, and dammit, now Jonghyun had made it worse.

“Nothing happened.”

“You can tell me, you know. I might be able to help.”

“It’s nothing like what you’re thinking.” Jonghyun tried to smile, and it stretched across his face like latex. “It’s not a big deal. I’m just—”

“Freaking out?” Seungcheol finished. “I couldn’t notice.”

“Shut up,” Jonghyun grumbled. “I’m having a crisis.”

That seemed to put Seungcheol at ease more than anything, and he grinned back. “Really? You just said you weren’t.”

“You’re a crisis.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Yeah, well, nothing does today.” Jonghyun sighed and finally plopped down on the couch. “Do you think there’s, like, ghosts and stuff like that out there?”

Seungcheol raised his eyebrows. “Did you have an experience.”

“No, it’s, I dunno, hypothetical.”

“That’s the least hypothetical thing I’ve ever heard,” Seungcheol said. “But yeah, I do.”

“You do?” Jonghyun chewed on his lip.

“You don’t?” Seungcheol countered. “I would’ve guessed you did.”

Jonghyun grimaced. Had he? Hadn’t he? He’d never put too much thought into it. “There’d be some record somewhere if they existed.”

“There are,” Seungcheol said. “All over the place.”

“I mean proof.”

“You’re usually all about there being more mysteries than answers in the world. What’s different with this?”

That was true. Jonghyun had long thought people would be more interested in nature if they understood how little anyone knew about it. Of all the species in the world, under ten percent had been discovered and described. Scientists didn’t understand at least ninety percent of the life on Earth, and it was hubris to pretend anything else. 

Plus Minki had told him about it. Even if Jonghyun did his best to separate the two, if he didn’t believe there were sirens and whatever else, then he believed Minki lied to him.

“You can be a little oblivious sometimes, Jonghyunnie,” Seungcheol said. “Just because you haven’t noticed it doesn’t mean it’s not around.”

Jonghyun nodded. “So if you had a friend that you didn’t think was human, you’d just, what? Be chill with it?”

Seungcheol seemed more uncertain now, and Jonghyun scoffed.

“See?” he said. “It’s crazy. I’m crazy.”

“You’re not. If I trusted the person, I’d talk about it to them. But if someone’s your friend, that won’t change, right?”

“You’re not bullshitting me?” Jonghyun asked. “You’d really believe them?”

“Definitely.”

Jonghyun really wasn’t super surprised, but it was oddly validating to hear that. “Okay,” he said. “Okay.”

“Who is it?” Seungcheol asked.

“I can’t say.” He couldn’t tell his friends’ secrets.

Seungcheol seemed to debate whether to press further, but he let it go.

“I think I’m just going to go for a walk.” Jonghyun needed some fresh air to clear his head.

Seungcheol was right. There was so much he’d ignored over the past year. Fuck, how many people had Jonghyun watched fall into the water around Minki? And as much as he wanted to believe what happened to him when he heard Minki’s singing was some fluke, the timing was weird. Suspicious.

How many other people’s coworkers acted like they could talk to fish? Or had a bathtub on a boat ‘just in case?’

He’d taken them as weird but promptly accepted it all, and maybe that had been his first mistake.

Jonghyun sighed.

At least the ocean looked the same as always. It was dark already, so the beach was near empty. Crabs ran to-and-fro, scattering the moment he neared them. There was some cluster of shorebirds not too far away, likely resting there for the night. Jonghyun kept a wide berth to avoid startling them.

There wasn’t much of a moon tonight, only a thin crescent, but Jonghyun found himself staring at it. He took a seat, his legs wrapped in close to his body.

The last time he’d been here, that strange seal had come from the water. He smiled when he remembered it. What a weird experience.

Something dissonant banged around in his head. Jonghyun had been trying to think of odd things that had happened to him that might say his friends were really not human, and that counted, didn’t it? Who else had strange experiences with seals that acted almost like humans?

When Jonghyun thought he got a glimpse of something in the water, he immediately tossed it from his mind. He was thinking too much about that seal.

At least, until the figure stood.

Jonghyun froze. Part of him pushed him to run away, and he tried, but he couldn’t tear his eyes off the figure—

—the _familiar_ figure. Jonghyun blinked, trying to connect the image of Dongho—smiling, waving—with the figure that just came out of the ocean.

Dongho had the gall to say a simple ‘hello’ and Jonghyun was pretty certain he would’ve fallen if he hadn’t already been sitting.

“You just— came out of— What the hell?” Jonghyun tried to get a handle on his own mouth, and it didn’t work too well. “Dongho?”

He sat next to Jonghyun, and a few water droplets fell from his coat, spattering onto the sand. They left small circular marks on it.

“I thought you’d want to talk,” Dongho said, and Jonghyun could only stare at him.

 

\--

 

Jonghyun thought about suggesting a coffee shop or that Minki should come to his apartment, but in the end, his text reads something like ‘can I meet you on _Polaris?’_ and the answer is a quick ‘I’ll be there in fifteen.’

The star painted on the hull was just as faded as always, but Minki had been right about the name. It felt right coming here with Minki. This was where Jonghyun had gotten to know him, where he’d confessed. It was easier to come back together there.

Jonghyun waited on the dock until Minki arrived, and he tried not to stare too much when Minki did approach. He had something in his hands—a colorful, spiral shell.

“I brought this for you,” Minki said. “I thought you’d like it.”

“It’s beautiful,” Jonghyun said. “Do you know what it is?”

“You’re the biologist.”

“But you got it for me.” Jonghyun smiled. “I only know it’s a whelk. Where’d you get it?”

Minki shrugged. “I was diving,” he said. “I don’t know exactly where I was. I found it a couple months ago.”

It was rare to find intact spiral shells. Tossed about in the waves and carried over distances, the shells broke into pieces. This one was complete, the kind of thing found in a souvenir store.

“When you say diving,” Jonghyun started. He paused. The inside of the shell was a bright reddish orange. “You can breathe underwater?”

Despite everything, some part of him expected Minki to laugh and claim it had all been a joke.

“Yeah, I can.”

Jonghyun had thought as much. Or actually he’d known as much. Dongho had told him they all could, except him, who could only hold his breath for as long as a normal harbor seal.

“Thanks for thinking of me,” Jonghyun said. He chanced a look up and caught Minki’s smile. If his heartbeat grew any faster, Jonghyun was pretty certain he’d have a problem.

For a brief pause, they stared at each other, then Minki laughed. “You know, I really didn’t think things would get this weird.”

“It’s not bad-weird though, right?” Jonghyun opened his arms the slightest amount, and Minki took the invitation, leaning in and tightening his arms around Jonghyun.

They were warm, and he smelled like something fruity. Jonghyun scrunched down and hooked his chin on Minki’s shoulder.

“Hey.” Minki patted his back gently. “Want to go out for a bit? It’s a little busy here.”

Jonghyun agreed and getting _Polaris_ ready to go was like falling into a choreography. They worked together well, and it wasn’t surprising. Jonghyun had done this exact thing so many times in the past year, except now neither of them could keep from smiling.

This whole stealing looks thing was new. Or at least, Jonghyun had never noticed he was doing it before. It was nice.

Minki paused in the breakroom. Jonghyun waited for him to say something.

“I didn’t think you’d call me today.”

“Dongho talked to me yesterday.”

Minki raised his eyebrows. “And that was enough?”

“He came out of the ocean.” Jonghyun tried to keep the wonder out of his voice, but he ultimately failed.

Minki laughed. “You’re so cute,” he said. “Come here?” He reached out for Jonghyun, and Jonghyun slid closer. His face lit on fire, and really, they’d cuddled enough in the past year that he shouldn’t act like this.

Minki hopped onto the table and patted the spot next to him. Jonghyun joined him.

“Why did you wait so long?” he asked. “Would you have told me, if I hadn’t heard you?”

“I mean, we didn’t plan on it last year.” Minki said. “It was hard enough for us to hire a human at all.”

“Really?”

Minki smiled, and he looked almost fond. “Humans are weird,” he said. “And can be dangerous. We all grew up with stories about keeping away, especially from scientists.”

“So why me?” Jonghyun asked. He grinned. “Did I seem trustworthy?”

Laughter flowed out of Minki, and Jonghyun deflated a little. Minki wrapped an arm around him, and he relaxed into it immediately.

“You probably won’t like this,” Minki warned.

“I don’t think you could surprise me anymore.”

“You didn’t ask too many questions and were—eager to please, I guess? Plus, you didn’t have many friends.”

“That’s rude,” Jonghyun said. “But why did that matter?”

“We had an agreement that worst case we’d—uh—take care of you.”

Jonghyun’s eyes widened to a near comical size. “What?”

“It was a last case scenario!” He raised his hands.

“In case of what?”

“If you went all ‘exposing our kind’ on us or something.” Minki shrugged. “We never got close to doing it, I swear. Just Minhyun and Aaron aren’t that great at hiding things, and Dongho smells like fish, and we were worried.”

“They’re bad at hiding it? You told me you weren’t human on the first day!”

“Sometimes hiding in plain sight works best.” Minki shrugged. “I mean, it took you a year and me explicitly telling you for you to realize.”

“But your backup plan was murder?”

“Technically it was you ‘accidentally falling overboard.’”

“Still murder,” Jonghyun said. “And I thought you didn’t know I couldn’t swim.”

Minki gave him a look that bordered on pitying. “It wouldn’t have mattered if you could, Jonghyunnie.”

Well that was reassuring.

“I can’t believe you hired me because no one would miss me,” Jonghyun said. “Seungcheol would miss me! You would miss me!”

Minki laughed. “That was before I was attached. We never mentioned it after we got to know you.”

Jonghyun tried to shuffle through his responses to figure out what he should say. They’d had plans to ‘take care of him’ if anything went wrong. At the same time he’d been unsure but thrilled about this ridiculous, ridiculous job, they’d been reassuring each other that he couldn’t cause them any issues.

Before he could say anything, he giggled once. Jonghyun covered his mouth with his hand.

Minki caught his eye, and his concern struck Jonghyun as absolutely fucking hilarious, and he laughed for real.

“Are you okay?” Minki asked. “Why—why are you laughing?”

“I just—” Jonghyun shook his head. “I can’t believe I got literally the best job of anyone I graduated with in my major, and I got it because no one would care if I died.”

Minki didn’t seem to find it nearly as funny, and the creases on his brow didn’t disappear.

Jonghyun’s shoulders shook.

“Hey, Jonghyun. Look at me.”

He obeyed and did his best to quell his mad giggling. Minki leaned closer and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips. It shut Jonghyun up as cleanly as if he’d pressed a mute button.

Wide-eyed, he stared at Minki. “Oh,” he said. Jonghyun hadn’t had time to respond while the kiss was happening, but Minki’s lips had been soft. He hadn’t tasted of anything much, but Jonghyun still wanted to taste it again.

“Oh?” Minki echoed.

Jonghyun blinked a couple times and tried to figure out a better response.

Eventually, he leaned in again, wanting another. When Minki didn’t oblige, Jonghyun initiated what he meant to be another small peck. Instead, Minki kept him close, and Jonghyun didn’t try to pull away.

Eventually Minki broke it, and whatever he saw in Jonghyun’s eyes made him smile. Jonghyun had to echo it.

“So.” Minki dragged the word out, his smile turning playful. Jonghyun braced himself. “I’m just saying, if we’re doing this, there’s a perfectly good bathtub right there.”

“No,” Jonghyun said, instantly. “Minki, no.” More emphatically.

Minki grinned and ran his palms over Jonghyun’s arms. “You’re right.” He leaned in for another kiss, and Jonghyun didn’t have time to be annoyed that he’d so clearly said that just to get a rise out of Jonghyun.

He’d be mad another time. For now, Minki’s lips were soft, and his touch gentle, and Jonghyun would be happy doing this all day.

Minki pressed their foreheads together. They were both breathing heavily, arms wrapped around each other. A couple of the buttons on Minki’s shirt were undone.

“We should’ve known you’d be okay with this,” Minki said. He laughed softly, and Jonghyun realized all over again that he loved that sound. “I mean, your roommate’s a vampire.”

His words registered, and Jonghyun jolted.

“My roommate’s a _what?”_

 

\--

 

It was less awkward than it had any right to be. Jonghyun had spent way too long stressing about how he’d look at any of them at work the next day for everything to be this easy.

Of course, by easy he meant that the morning began with him hurtling down the dock and darting on-board at the last minute. He’d slept through his alarm.

Jonghyun wheezed, collapsed into a chair in the breakroom. He hardly even registered when Minhyun walked in.

“You okay?” He passed his water bottle over to Jonghyun, who took a couple sips.

“Ran here,” Jonghyun said. He wiped the sweat off his face.

“Yeah, I can tell. We thought you were gonna miss it.”

He shook his head. That had only ever happened once, even with his problems of chronic lateness.

Jonghyun’s breathing had finally calmed, and he leaned back in the chair and groaned.

“Did you not sleep?” Minhyun asked. “You look tired.”

“I’ll take a nap later,” Jonghyun said. He passed Minhyun his water bottle back. “I’m fine.”

Minhyun hummed. “I’m glad I caught you, though. I needed to tell you something.”

“Hmm?”

“If Aaron tries to get you to try a weird drink, just tell him to fuck off, okay?”

Jonghyun laughed, surprised. Minhyun wasn’t normally one to swear. “What?” he asked.

“It’s glorified mud,” Minhyun said. “He acts like it’s good, but it’s really, really not.”

Jonghyun nodded, like he understood. He leaned forward a little in his seat. “So—what are you and Aaron, then?” he asked and grimaced at the phrasing.

Minhyun laughed. “Did Minki not tell you?”

“He said you have a… tail?”

“Only in water. I’m a mermaid,” he said it very simply, and Jonghyun supposed it was simple to him. 

“But you can’t go in water.” 

“I can’t go in saltwater.” Minhyun rolled his eyes. “Because it ruins everything. I told you, I grew up in a lake.”

“Uh, I think it was more you ‘grew up _by_ a lake.’”

“Same thing.” Minhyun waved a hand. “I’m just not made for that much salt. It makes me sick.” 

“Then why do you live here?” Jonghyun asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Minhyun said. “You should probably go help Minki.”

Oh, fuck. Jonghyun jumped up, mumbling a curse when he needed an extra step to catch his balance.

“He’s going to kill me,” he said. He grabbed his radio and put it on his belt.

Minhyun laughed. “No, he’s not. Just get out there.”

Jonghyun walked out. He blinked a couple times and gathered himself, squinting in the sunlight. Everyone was on the boat already, and the motor thrummed under their feet. Jonghyun didn’t see Minki, so he slipped into the crowd and began introducing himself to people and herding them towards the seated area.

Jonghyun had a pair of binoculars around his neck—even though he still didn’t know the birds too well. Add that with his work shirt and normal field pants, and he looked like he possessed some sort of authority, so the people at least kinda listened to him.

The tour went as quickly and as well as usual. Jonghyun had long learned that what he regarded as a ‘spectacular view’ was more narrow than most people’s, mainly because he could compare day-to-day. 

He would never get tired of watching the whales exist. They were beautiful animals, and the sense of wonder they induced had always left Jonghyun feeling warm and fuzzy and like all the effort he put into trying to get people to care might be worth it.

Near the end of the tour, he caught Minki watching him. He used one hand to shade the sun and smiled. Minki matched it.

They didn’t talk until after their customers had left. Jonghyun pulled in the walkway and headed towards the breakroom.

The door bounced against its frame behind him, and right, they still needed to fix that at some point. The breakroom was crowded as ever with the five of them in it, and Jonghyun pushed the door open again, so they could breathe a little.

He pulled his radio off and put it in the charger. His had a small ‘Jonghyun’ nametag below it, and it was peeling off the plastic. Dongho’s had a chunk torn from it, and Aaron’s had long since fallen off. It had been Minhyun who insisted they label them in the first place.

Jonghyun finished messing with the radio—he needed to put it in twice to get the charging light to turn on—and faced the others. They were watching him, oddly serious, and okay, so now it was weird.

“What?” he asked. “You’re not going to drown me now are you?” He smiled, albeit nervously, and the awkwardness dipped just enough for the room to no longer be stifling.

“No, you idiot,” Minki said. “But don’t you have questions?”

Only a billion of them.

He should get the biggest one out of the way first, but it was a lot to start with.

Jonghyun chose a smaller one instead. “Why do we have a bathtub?”

Minki laughed. “I can’t believe you never found that weird.”

“I did!” Jonghyun protested. “I just, I dunno.” He’d accepted it. Some people had like emergency fire blankets and stuff; they had an emergency bathtub.

“It’s for me,” Minhyun said. “I’m kinda bad at not transitioning if I get wet, so it’s insurance so I don’t end up hurting myself if I get stuck in the rain or splashed or something.”

Jonghyun blinked a couple times. “Have you ever needed it?” There was no way he’d missed Minhyun having a tail at some point.

“Nah, I’ve gotten better,” Minhyun said. “I don’t even have to hide in here when it rains anymore.” He looked vaguely proud of that and good for him, Jonghyun guessed. The whole transition thing didn’t make too much sense to him, but well, understanding everything would probably take some time. 

“It’s great for underwater cuddling, though.” Aaron grinned. “One-hundred percent better than doing it dry.”

“Aaron!” Minhyun hissed.

“What? You get a bit weedy underwater, and I like that.”

Jonghyun winced. Considering how touchy Aaron had gotten with all the freshwater plants in Jonghyun’s life, he really hadn’t needed to know that.

“Have you two ever considered not being like this?” Dongho asked.

“You love us.” 

“Jonghyun?”Minki cut in before Dongho was able to respond. “Anything else you want to ask?”

Well, now he was a bit unsure about bringing up anything, but while he knew what Minki, Dongho, and Minhyun were, he was still in the dark about Aaron.

“So, you’re a siren, you’re a selkie, and you’re a mermaid.” He gestured at each as he spoke, then faced Aaron. “What are you?”

“I—” Aaron hesitated. “There’s not really a good word for what I am? Or, like, you don’t really have one?”

Minhyun snorted. “He’s a swamp monster.”

“I resent that,” Aaron said. “But yeah. Kinda.” He made a face at Jonghyun.

“A… swamp monster.”

“He lurks in swamps and—”

“I protect swamps,” Aaron said. “I like, I dunno, I keep them functioning? I’m basically like a naiad.”

“Sure you are,” Dongho said.

“So you’re actually from a swamp?” Jonghyun asked.

“And he loves mud.”

“Would you let me speak?” Aaron went to pinch Minhyun, but he dodged. “But yeah.”

“Why did you leave?” Jonghyun asked.

“Habitat loss has real victims, you know.”

Okay, that one hurt a little, considering Jonghyun’s considerable knowledge of all the ways the Earth was dying. “But why the ocean?” he addressed both Minhyun and Aaron.

Minhyun shrugged. “Guess we just found a place here,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, adding salt to water is sacrilegious, but it is nice here.”

“I second that,” Aaron added. “And I get we’re, like, having a moment, but can we have it outside? Because it’s fucking hot in here, and I’m drying out.”

There was a beat of silence, and Jonghyun had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Aaron had said that so many times in the past year, but this was the first time Jonghyun really understood it.

Jonghyun pushed the door open and shaded his eyes with one hand. He didn’t go far, just leaned against the wall. Minki wrapped an arm around him.

“Want to get dinner with me?” he asked, his mouth close to Jonghyun’s ear, and maybe Jonghyun understood exactly what Minhyun and Aaron had meant by finding a place here.

 

\--

 

Jonghyun had once thought the water within the cove was calm and peaceful, and today was no different, but Jonghyun had never been so afraid in his life.

“How deep is it?” he asked again. Minki was already in the water but Jonghyun was comfortably on shore. The rocks looked suspiciously slippery, even though Jonghyun had navigated similar places more times than he could count. He narrowed his eyes at them.

“About three meters where I’m at,” Minki said. “But it’s gradual. At least get in the water, Jonghyunnie.” Something about Minki--and not only the tail--seemed less human when he was in the water. Still beautiful, still Minki, but different. Jonghyun did want to be closer to him.

Further out in the cove, Dongho’s head poked out of the water. He was in his seal form, and Jonghyun was pretty sure that was the only reason why he wasn’t also encouraging Jonghyun to get in.

“What if I step on something weird?” Jonghyun asked. He knew a little too much about the ocean to not worry about what could happen.

“You’re kidding me right?” Minki dipped his head under the water and lifted it just as quickly. “There’s nothing there.”

“Did you know Stonefish are super venomous?”

“Yeah and how often are Stonefish found here?”

Never. This wasn’t their habitat. “You never know,” he said, weakly.

“We should’ve done this at the lake,” Minhyun said. He and Aaron were on a different, higher rock, watching the proceedings with various shades of amusement and sulking. Minhyun pouted. “Then we all could’ve helped.”

“And if someone came?” Minki challenged. “We would’ve had to hide ‘till they left, and do we really want to find out how long Jonghyun can hold his breath today?”

“Can we not talk about that?” Jonghyun asked. He did want to do this, and not only because Minki wanted him to. It was just a lot.

“I’ll come in with you,” Aaron offered. He seemed to worry less about slipping on the rocks than Jonghyun. Jonghyun took the hand he offered.

Minki had admitted earlier that what he originally pictured wouldn’t work. He’d wanted to do something a lot more like what Aaron had offered, but Minki was made for quick transitions between land and sea. He could prevent it, but he’d likened it to struggling to keep your eyes open as you sneezed.

“Geez, man,” Aaron said. “I’d like to still have a hand after this, you know.” He tried to pull Jonghyun forward, to finally step into the water, but Jonghyun resisted.

“I thought salt water was bad for you,” he said.

Aaron shrugged. “A lot isn’t great for me, but as long as I don’t spend like a week in here, it’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“C’mon, Jonghyun. It’s really not that bad.”

Minki really wanted him to do this. They all wanted him to, but it was Minki who was out in the deeper water, hoping Jonghyun would make his way out there.

Jonghyun took a deep breath. His heart pounded in his chest, but it was okay. He stepped forward into the water—which was only about half a meter deep. With the water around his knees and a solid foothold, Jonghyun’s ears colored from his embarrassment. He’d made this a bigger deal than it deserved to be.

Jonghyun still clutched Aaron’s hand. He followed him to the edge of that rock, and then onto another lower one.

Now the water was around his waist. He pressed his lips together, and the only thing that prevented him from calling it a day was Minki’s happy smile. He wanted this so badly.

“Are you ready?” Aaron asked.

Jonghyun nodded. He hoped his face wasn’t too pale, but the lack of jokes meant everyone had realized this was a big deal.

The next rock took the water up to his chest. He was only a few steps from Minki now, but there was no way he could get there by walking. The gentle waves pushed at him, and he pressed against Aaron, who seemed to have no difficulty staying upright.

“How do you feel?” Minki asked.

“I’m… okay. Yeah. I’m okay.” He didn’t entirely believe it himself.

“Can you reach my hand?” Minki held it out, and Jonghyun probably could, if he stretched for it.

“Maybe I should put a life jacket on first—”

“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Minki said. “But if you really want to, you should.”

It was the same thing he’d said before, and Jonghyun had agreed to try it without it. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“That’s okay,” Minki said. “I’ll take care of you. I just want you to see it’s not scary. You can learn after.”

“Shouldn’t I learn first?” Jonghyun protested (too late. Way too late.). “So then I’m not scared?”

Minki only smiled, and Jonghyun wished he could dislike how Minki could tell that his protests weren’t enough to stop him. But then again, the way Jonghyun’s arm already extended towards him told Minki enough by itself.

Their fingers brushed, and Jonghyun tightened his grip on Aaron before he finally grabbed Minki’s hand. Minki tugged immediately, and Aaron let go, and Jonghyun had the horrifying sensation of sinking. Before he could do more than clench his eyes shut, Minki had his arms fully around Jonghyun.

Jonghyun wrapped himself around Minki, his arms tight around his neck and his legs around Minki’s waist.

(Not far above his tail and holy fuck Jonghyun still wasn’t used to that in the slightest.)

Seal-Dongho—Dongho-The-Seal?—popped his head up closer, and even though seal faces didn’t work like human faces, Jonghyun was certain he was celebrating.

A wave came by, and the water rose to Jonghyun’s chin. He squeezed his arms around Minki tighter. Minki coughed.

“Sorry.” Jonghyun tried to loosen his arms but didn’t know if he succeeded.

Minki’s arm tightened on his back. “I never thought I’d die in water.”

“Shut up,” Jonghyun said. “You can breathe underwater!”

“Not if you strangle me.”

Jonghyun did his best to relax. “Is this better?”

“You’re fine,” Minki said. “How do you feel?”

Jonghyun’s heartbeat still raced, but the terror had faded. He licked his lips and tasted salt on them. “I’m okay.”

Comfortable enough to feel embarrassed about exactly how much of his body he had wrapped around Minki, not comfortable enough to let go of him. At least Minki didn’t draw too much attention to it.

“See?” Minki sounded way too proud of himself. “It’s not scary at all.”

Jonghyun was absolutely certain he’d sink if Minki let go of him. He told Minki that.

“Well, yeah, you still need to learn,” Minki said. “But I wanted to be with you the first time you went in water.”

“Aren’t you going to teach me?” For all his complaints that Minki was crazy, he’d been looking forward to that.

Minki laughed. “Jonghyun, I’ve never swam with legs before. Dongho and Aaron know a lot more about that than me.”

“Oh.” That made sense.

“I’ll come with you, though.”

Jonghyun didn’t even try to hold back his smile at that.

Minki tightened his arms around him and grinned. “You’re cute,” he said, directly into Jonghyun’s ear. He kissed his cheek, and Jonghyun’s face heated up.

“This is literally the least romantic situation ever,” Jonghyun protested. “Don’t say stuff like that.”

“I think it’s romantic.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still focused on not drowning.”

Minki laughed. “Nothing’s going to happen. You’re safe.”

“If you say so,” Jonghyun mumbled, but maybe he did believe it.

The waves were gentle and the water warm. High above their heads, the blue sky was cloudless and bright.

Minhyun laughed, and Jonghyun twisted to see him and Aaron sitting together near the shore. They didn’t notice him looking. Dongho was sunning on a rock, still in his seal form.

And Minki was watching Jonghyun. He was staring, not even trying to hide how much this meant to him. 

Jonghyun leaned in a little closer—not that there was much room between them in the first place—and whispered a quiet ‘thank you’ into his ear.

**Author's Note:**

> cant believe im posting this on the same day we got a real baekho + seal interaction. tbh can't believe im posting this at all but hey, i enjoyed it and if you made it this far hopefully you did too???
> 
> I appreciate all kudos and comments!! thank you!! if you really want to make my day tell me when/if you guessed who was what being!! 
> 
> i live on [twitter](https://twitter.com/onlystr84jongup) and on [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/onlystr84jongup) ^^


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